Will ‘Madden 18’s’ Story Mode Be A Fan Favorite From The Past Or On-Rails Like ‘Fight Night Champion?’

We’re a few months into the NFL’s offseason, which means it’s time to start thinking about the digital gridiron. EA released the first trailer for Madden ’18 and amidst the usual promises and platitudes, a big reveal was snuck in at the end of the video: story mode. Or at least, what seems like a story mode. There are no concrete details yet, but considering FIFA ’17’s The Journey mode was so well received, we can all assume this footage is going to put us under the helmet of a player as they make their way to the NFL. Kind of like Fight Night Champion.

Here is the trailer, teasing a player-controlled narrative (and cued for your convenience):

Here’s what we can unpack from the dark footage of a solemn man sitting across from Lucas Oil Stadium: it’s not some horror story in which a man in a sweater is stalking a coliseum, that guy looks like he’s getting mentally prepared for the NFL Combine. The voiceover lends even more to this theory of an on-rails story mode:

“My father used to say ‘when the world knocks you down, get back up again.'”

That’s some really deep stuff right there. You can even take something from the fact that the main character is looking at his reflection in the glass as he looks toward his future at Lucas Oil Stadium, where Andy Dwyer once caught passes.

Fingers crossed. Every madden for almost a decade now has been a reskin with extra emphasis thrown at the micro transaction modes. Hopefully they decide to expand their game and cater towards the hardcore, long term fans. We really REALLY loved ’06 story mode. It may have been the best Madden mode ever.

I used to enjoy simming 30 seasons, and just doing the drafting/trading/free agent/management stuff, but in the last several versions of the game they’ve taken out too many of the tiny features that made that enjoyable. Like, how hard is it to show the scores of your season games while you sim?

I feel like they nearly perfected franchise mode a few years ago, and then have tinkered with it into shittiness since then, for no reason.